Data and Information
Datum: - one piece of data.
Data: -Raw input to be processed <by a computer>.
Information: data that has been processed <by a computer>, such that it is organized, meaningful and useful.
System: - An organized set of related components established to perform a certain task.
(Source: Capron L, Computers (5th edition))
Data
Data in a computer is always stored as binary numbers. These numbers can mean anything and do not take form until us humans give it some interpretation. Of course, in a computer system, we create software that interprets the data for us in the appropriate manner.
Characters, which includes letters, numbers and symbols have a standard way of being stored so as they can be retrieved as something meaningful. The letter 'A' is stored as the binary value 01010001. This standard is known as the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) code.
The same Binary number can also be interpreted as part of a sound stored digitally; or a video clip or even a pixel value. A pixel is one spot on the screen of a digital image. The binary number usually represents the colour of the pixel at the location. Thus the value 01010001 may represent a shade of gray or colour somewhere between black (00000000) and white (11111111).
Image, video and sound data is usually stored in some compressed way. An example of this is your favorite picture stored on a disk as a pcx file. To store a file as a pcx file, an algorithm similar to following must be followed.
Read the first pixel of the image and
store this.
Count the number of pixels with the same value across the screen.
Store this value.
Go to the next, different pixel and store this.
Count the number of pixels with the same value across the screen.
Store this value.
Keep doing this until you get to the end of the image.
Information
The result of processing data will produce information. The sole purpose of a computer is to provide us with useful information. This information may be in the form of a written report, an image on the screen, a computer game to entertain us, a graph of the weather in Antarctica or the status of a nuclear reactor.
In the case of image data, the result will produce an image on the screen or on a piece of paper. Also, sound and video data will result in those being seen or heard assuming the computer doing the processing has the correct hardware and software components requited.
In a more general understanding of information, data stored in a database can be processed and then presented on screen or on paper. This is done in such a way so that it has some value or use. These presentations are usually in the form of a report that somebody then reads.
Tasks
Make sure you know how to convert
Author Mike Leishman